The Bookshop Podcast
The Bookshop Podcast
Lovestruck Books: Building A Community Bookstore Around Love And Literature
In this episode, I chat with Lovestruck Books owner and founder, Rachel Kantor. Rachel traces the thread from her years in classrooms and nonprofits to the moment she opened a shop that treats joy and access as serious cultural work. We dig into what it means to put the world’s best-selling fiction genre at the center of an academic neighborhood and how that choice reshapes conversations about taste, representation, and who gets shelf space.
Rachel shares the tightrope walk between mission and margin, revealing how a cafe and wine bar aren’t add-ons but engines of community: inviting readers to linger, meet, and return. We explore the store’s 75% romance focus alongside kids’ books, general fiction, and targeted nonfiction—from memoir to sexual health and wellness—plus a slate of events that range from bestselling rom-com authors to a sold-out pelvic floor workshop and visits from award-shortlisted historians. The mix is intentional, reflecting a wide and lively demographic: students, professors, longtime locals, tourists, and readers across the gender and orientation spectrum.
Representation sits at the center. We talk about the ongoing rise of queer love stories, poly relationships, Indigenous and BIPOC authors, and why fighting book bans and expanding access matter for a healthier literary ecosystem. Rachel offers gateway picks for skeptics, like Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, alongside current obsessions in sports romance and romantasy, and she explains how recognition, like a member-voted Best Bookstore award, signals that community is choosing this model of joyful, inclusive culture. Join us to rethink what a bookstore can be, and to leave with a stronger, more curious TBR.
If this conversation sparked a new read or reminded you why you love indie bookshops, tap follow, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—your support helps more listeners find the show.
Hi, my name is Mandy Jackson Beverly, and I'm a bibliophile. Welcome to the Bookshop Podcast. Each week I present interviews with authors, independent bookshop owners and booksellers from around the globe, and publishing professionals. To help the show reach more people, please share episodes with friends and family and on social media. And remember to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast. You're listening to episode 318. Hi, I'm going to give a quick shout out to the University Club in Santa Barbara for hosting and partnering with me for the Lunch with an Author literary series in Santa Barbara last week. It was a lot of fun. My guest author in Santa Barbara was Noelle Stark, speaking about her debut rom-com novel Love Camera Action. Also, a big thank you to Hotel El Roblah in Ojai, California for hosting the Lunch with an Author series this year. It was wonderful. Thank you so much. And if you're looking for a fabulous few days away in Southern California, I highly recommend Hotel El Roblah. The hotel was established in 1919 and is Oi's longest-standing hotel. The two-acre property has been recently restored to its historic charm, reflecting both its Spanish revival and early California roots, while blending classic design with a modern sensibility. For literary lovers wanting a midweek escape to Oi, surrounded by mountains, streams, the scent of lavender and citrus blossoms, and what's known as the OHI Pink Moment, El Robla offers a special room discount for our literary series. The discount becomes available once you've purchased your ticket to one of the monthly literary luncheons. For more information, you can contact me at mandyjacksonbeverly at gmail.com. Okay, let's get on with this week's episode. Rachel Cantor is the owner and founder of Lovestruck Books, a romance bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For Rachel, Lovestruck Books is more than just a business venture. It's the realization of a personal dream come true. A longtime lover of romance novels, she has created a space that reflects her passion and celebrates the power of love and literature to bring people together. A graduate of both Yale University and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Rachel's journey is a testament to her commitment to lifelong learning. Prior to Love Struck Books, Rachel taught elementary and high school English. Following her time in education, she made significant contributions to national nonprofit organizations in Miami, Florida, and Washington, DC, where she honed her skills in development and community outreach. However, it was after embracing the joys and challenges of motherhood, three children in five years, that Rachel found herself drawn back to her professional pursuits. Eager to re-enter the workforce, she seized the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream, opening her own independent bookstore in the heart of Cambridge. Rachel lives in Cambridge with her husband and young family. In her spare time, she enjoys reading romance novels, baking and eating snacks, singing show tunes, and stealing the occasional nap. Her favorite romance trope is Enemies to Lovers. Hi Rachel and welcome to the show. It's great to have you here. Great to be here. Thanks so much for having me. Oh, it's my pleasure. Now you have a fabulous education and have had experience working with nonprofit organizations. Looking back, what through line connects education, nonprofit work, and bookselling? And do they come into conflict with one another?
SPEAKER_01:That's such a great question. Well, I appreciate the opportunity to sort of talk through my career such as it is. I think for me the the through line has always been about access, access to stories, to learning, access to spaces where people can really feel seen and feel intellectually connected. And I think bookstores and independent bookstores in particular are really where those sort of lessons and messages become tangible. And I think the big conflict comes from just the idea about sustainability. You know, education and nonprofit often ask you to sort of prioritize mission over, you know, financial sustainability and bookselling is a very low margin industry. And so it really does force you to sort of reconcile this idea of access with sort of an economic reality. But that's one of the things that we sort of hold true to is trying to provide as low barrier to entry as possible while still maintaining a successful business. And so, you know, it's that's the constant tension is how do you protect your values and keep the lights on?
SPEAKER_00:Did you ever consider opening the bookshop as a nonprofit?
SPEAKER_01:So I didn't think about opening the bookstore in and of itself as a nonprofit, although a lot of bookstores do have a nonprofit arm. And that's something that I am exploring, this idea of having sort of an extension of Love Struck as a nonprofit, which would be kind of a cultural space that would be an extension of our offering. So that might be a place where we host workshops, where we put on additional events, classes, things like that. So the nonprofit uh extension, which again is something I'm exploring, but we don't have yet, uh, would be uh kind of the next phase of Love Struck and would be something too that would allow us to really expand our offerings and potentially partner with other existing nonprofits. It seems that you're all about community. Very much so, yes.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I am too. In fact, I believe that it is through our local communities that we can actually make change, that we can bring change forward. I understand and appreciate that at times perhaps that sounds ludicrous with everything going on in the world right now, our disasters. Uh it's it's just mind-blowing sometimes. But I do believe that community is what gets us through everything.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. And it's it's the thing that I've seen every day at Love Struck, and it's been really heartwarming to see people connecting, meeting each other, um, finding solace in that community connection. And I think that that is, as you said, sort of the building block for a healthier society. And so it's been uh so inspiring to see people seek that out and and help build that. And I think Love Struck has really just been a platform to allow people to do that.
SPEAKER_00:That's fantastic. Now, Rachel, if someone had come to me about a year ago and said, Oh, there's this lady and she's gonna open up a romance-themed bookstore in the middle of Harvard Square, I would have thought, oh my goodness, now that's one brave lady. So can you share that story and how you came to open Love Struck, a romance-themed bookshop in the middle of Harvard Square?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so it's funny because so, first of all, I I live in Harvard Square. I went to Harvard as a grad student, and so for me, this is home. And so, of course, it has this um lauded reputation and an incredible history, but it's also like any other place, it is also just a community where people live and work and commute and things like that. So I don't think I really second guessed it as much as perhaps I should have when I first thought about it. For me, this was my this was my community nexus. Um, but more and more, I actually really love this juxtaposition of this sort of high intellectual center, um, juxtaposed against romance, which historically has been kind of looked down upon. But I actually think by putting Love Struck and centering romance in Harvard Square, it actually forces people to sort of uh come to terms with that, that sort of stereotype or that prejudice and uh kind of take romance seriously. I mean, take it seriously both as an economic force and as a social force. I mean, romance is the highest uh and most successful and popular uh genre of fiction in in uh public and in publishing today. And so I think that can't be ignored. And I think there's also something special about uh giving people that often are in really high pressure uh jobs with a lot of intellectual pressure uh an opportunity to sort of take a break and have a little bit of a respite and uh enjoy themselves and read for pleasure and be reminded that sometimes uh escapism is is okay and is actually important. So when I first, so I lived in Cambridge in 2012. My husband and I both went to grad school here. We moved to DC for about a decade, and then we moved back here with our young family. And when we were moving back, I noticed that a lot of the independent businesses that had been here before had closed. So Darwin's had closed, the Curious George bookstore, which was this great children's bookstore right in the square, had closed. And so I was really mourning the loss of those local indie places. And so I started to think about opening my own cafe and bookstore and was thinking about it really as kind of a almost like a hobby shop, a you know, a quiet, sleepy uh bookstore. And um, from the moment I sort of imagined Love Struck, it kind of exploded and turned into much more than that. And I think that just speaks to how hungry people were for that community gathering space, how much the romance community wanted a place that sort of celebrated their interests and their passion. Um, and luckily the location in Harvard Square was available and the landlords were amenable to a romance bookstore, and the the rest is history.
SPEAKER_00:And how does the demographics of the neighborhood shape the kinds of conversations and community that happen inside the bookshop?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so you know, people here are curious and opinionated and educated in, you know, in the best ways. And I think conversations can move really quickly from, you know, what should I be reading to why do I value certain stories over others? And so you'll hear people talking about, you know, why are we promoting this book over this book? And why is this author getting sort of primary space and other other authors are not getting the attention that they deserve in mainstream publications? Um, and so I think that that's been a really important element of opening the store is giving people a space to kind of voice their preferences and um and really put dollars behind their beliefs. And so this is a neighborhood that you know really invites that kind of conversation and is really open to those sorts of conversations. And in terms of the demographic, it's much more wide-ranging than I anticipated. We have, of course, we have students and grad students, um, we have tourists, but we also have longtime Cambridge residents. Um, there's an incredible literary community here that I've been so privileged to be become part of. So we've got authors and editors and people in the publishing world. So it's really like an incredible kaleidoscope of folks that have come through the store, um, people across the gender spectrum, people across the um sexual orientation spectrum, the age spectrum. It's really been much wider ranging than I could have hoped for.
SPEAKER_00:And how much of a percentage of the bookshop would you say ate us true romance books?
SPEAKER_01:We're we're probably about 75% romance. So we have a kids section and a general fiction section. And that was intentional in part because, first of all, lots of people who read romance uh have kids or have partners that don't read romance. And so I wanted Love Struck to be a welcoming space, sort of regardless of what you read. So I wanted there to be something for everyone. And then in addition, we are beyond in addition to being a romance bookstore, we're also a community bookstore. And so I wanted our offerings to kind of reflect that. And then we also have a cafe and wine bar run by George Howell Coffee, which was an original um coffee roaster that started here back in the 70s. His first cafe coffee connection actually started in Harvard Square. So this has been a real full circle for him as a partner, which has been great. So, anyway, so some people who come in for George Howell um are not necessarily romance readers. And so they are looking for the most recent, you know, best-selling fiction novel. Uh, we do have a nonfiction health and wellness section, small uh food and beverage section, of course, because of our cafe. So we we try to have something for everyone.
SPEAKER_00:Do you also carry nonfiction books?
SPEAKER_01:We do have nonfiction and primarily we have uh biography memoir, uh, but again, we also have sort of sexual health and wellness. So we have books about going through parametopause and relationships. And um, we had a really terrific event uh with uh pelvic floor therapist that was a sold-out event. And then in addition, because we're in Harvard Square, we also have these incredible professors. So we had the honor of hosting um Caleb Gale, whose book Black Moses is about um a black Western explorer in the 19th century, and it was shortlisted for the National Book Award. So we really, again, have been able to uh be a big tent for for all of the people that call Harvard Square home.
SPEAKER_00:Rachel, when you were pondering opening up an independent bookshop, was making it a romance bookshop the first thing on your mind?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so I've always been a big romance reader, and it was kind of a it was kind of a running joke in my family and with my friends that this was my guilty pleasure. And the older I got, the more I became kind of overt about the fact that I really enjoy reading this genre and I'm not going to be apologetic for it. And that's been reflected culturally as well coming out of COVID. Book talk really exploded, and so there'd been this incredible resurgence of people reading books, brick and mortar bookstores coming back to life, and then specifically romance bookstores having this moment. When I first started thinking about doing this uh three years ago, there were about 20 romance bookstores in the country, and now there are close to 200, I think. Um, and so I just was part of this wave of people that are kind of celebrating this genre that has been around for a long time, but is experiencing this real um emergence into mainstream culture. And uh, you know, for me, I've always been a big fantasy reader, and so romanticy was a great way to sort of marry my two interests of, you know, sort of high fantasy and um stories that feature happy ever afters and love stories and focus on interpersonal connections, uh, which is something that I always sought out in what I was reading. I always wanted to read about relationships and things like that. And um, and then there's just there's so much in the romance world to read. I mean, there's it's just this incredibly deep bench of of writing. So, you know, I started reading um Ann Bishop and Danielle Steele when I was, you know, in in middle school, and those were books that I would sort of find on the shelves when we would travel to, you know, different places and things like that. And then I started uh seeking out things on my own when I was getting a little older that were more like Janet Ivanovich was one of the first books, but one of the first authors that I really loved. And she writes kind of like thriller, romance thriller. Um, and then I just I just kind of continued to evolve in my reading tastes. And um, again, I was so lucky to be uh in a family and a community and an academic environment where access to books was never an issue, and so I was able to really explore and find what I like to read.
SPEAKER_00:I would be remiss if I didn't mention that one of the series of books that has propelled romance novels is of course Bridgeton by Julia Quinn, along with a TV series produced by Shonda Rhimes for Netflix. I feel a diversity of the cast in that series set in motion, diversity in not only publishing, but also in TV series and movies.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, and Julia Quinn she's fabulous. She she's visited the store several times, and uh she's just an incredible champion for independent bookstores and also for um sort of intellectual freedom and access to books and is very against book banning and has been a very vocal proponent of that, which is which is so important, especially now. Um, I totally agree. I mean, one of the things that romance does is it gives people an opportunity to see themselves reflected in love stories and to see people that look and sound and feel like them, uh, to see them getting happy ever afters. And and that is unique, I think, in the romance genre that this is not a place that only talks about trauma by traditionally marginalized groups. This is a place that really highlights and celebrates um everybody getting, you know, the opportunity to experience happiness. And that's reflected uh both in the authors that you know are writing romance and are getting traditionally published, and also in the storyline. So we're seeing this explosion of queer romance, of polyromance, of um, you know, people from again sort of traditionally marginalized communities that are not typically written about. So indigenous people, um people of color more and more, that's becoming much more mainstream.
SPEAKER_00:Finally, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yes.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. In April of 2025, you were awarded the Boston Business Women Award for Best Bookstore. As this award is a members' choice award, how did this make you feel, especially as community is important to you? And what does success look like for you beyond awards and visibility?
SPEAKER_01:So, you know, that was that award was so meaningful because it it came from people who really actively chose us, and and that matters, you know, for me it's people feeling connected to the space, regulars who feel ownership, staff who feel, you know, supported and feel that their their needs are being met, um, readers who come in and tell me how a book changed, how they saw themselves or got them through a really hard time. So, you know, the the awards of course are appreciated and they help highlight what we're doing, but to me it's really about the relationships that um that the we're that the awards represent. And and that's what that's what matters to me. So having a having a community uh choose us really was just an affirmation that we're doing something right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and that's important. I think uh specifically if we're talking about independent bookshops, independent bookshop owners don't go into the business thinking, oh, I'm gonna make a million bucks from this.
SPEAKER_01:Right. Nobody is getting into this for the money.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly. And that's a good segue into my next question. Indie bookshops are known for incorporating a secondary source of income into their business, and you chose a cafe and wine bar. Why this choice and how do you balance commerce with a feeling of refuge that people often want from independent bookshops?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I mean, as you said, often bookstores are seeking additional revenues to their dreams, and cafes are increasingly popular. For me, it was really that that was the kind of ambiance that I wanted. I wanted a place that invited customers to linger, to you know, chat with other people. When we when we first opened, we experimented with a no laptop rule or a limited laptop rule. We sort of loosened that a little bit because we have so many writers in our community that are coming in that are using the space as a, you know, sort of as a hop as an office. So of course we had to, we had to allow laptops. But I think the the coffee and the beverages and the food really give people an opportunity to linger. It's almost seen as an invitation to stay a while and to strike up a conversation with your with your neighbor. And in terms of the wine bar, again, those were that was an aspect that I just really wanted myself as a customer. I mean, I was kind of bringing to life all of the things that I love. So it was romance books, coffee, and you know, a glass of wine. And I just had this vision of being able to kind of explore the book with a delicious, you know, beverage of choice in hand. And to me, that felt like heaven and that felt like a real, a real respite from day-to-day life. So, you know, I have three young kids and I very much uh, you know, treasure the moments when I'm with them, of course, but also treasure the moments when I can just exist as an independent entity with friends or by myself and just have a little bit of mental space to explore things that are of interest to me. And so I think people see that in the bookstore. They come there sometimes on their own and they're making friends, or they're just happy, you know, kind of with a with a drink and a book on their own reading, or they're coming as part of a book club or a friend group. I've seen so many people meet each other over sort of a shared interest in a book, strike up a conversation in a in a subgenre section that they enjoy. I've seen, you know, adult mothers and daughters come in and share a love of books. I've had people come in and tell me that, you know, a particular author got them through a really hard time in their life, a divorce or cancer diagnosis. I mean, these books are really meaningful to people, and I think because they do represent optimism. Um, and so in terms of how we balance commerce and refuge, again, we're we're sort of navigating that. I mean, we're lucky to be busy, and so on the weekends when we're really busy, we do sometimes have to ask people to limit their seating to an hour. Um, such a such a fortunate problem to have. Um, but on the nights when it's you know quieter and slower, and we're able to host a book club or we're able to host a writing group, that is so special and and equally important to have those moments of community building. It all comes back to community. Let's talk books.
SPEAKER_00:What are you currently reading?
SPEAKER_01:So I just finished reading uh two books that are coming out. Uh, one came out today, uh, which is Tessa Bailey's Catch her if you can't catch me if you can, which is her newest sports romance. Um, and we're actually doing an event with her next weekend for our one-year anniversary. Um, and then Air of Illusion is another book that I just finished reading that's a romanticy, and we're doing a pre-order campaign with the author, Madeline Taylor. And so those sort of represent my two preferred genres. You've got contemporary sports romance and uh romanticy. And then at the same time, my husband and I are reading uh A Year of Magical Thinking Together by Joan Didion, which is sort of very different, but uh he had wanted to read it, and so we were reading it together, and so that's like a really nice counterbalance to these two uh sort of escapist books that I'm reading, and and also provides uh those books, those lighter books, um, provide sort of a little bit of a break from the really incredible writing by Joan Dadian, but the heavier topics. And so I'm always kind of balancing between, you know, wanting to stay up to date on the most recent releases, and then I've got an incredibly long backlist of of classics that I'm also trying to get through in my, you know, in my ample spare time. So I typically have like one hardcore, you know, one physical book, one e-book, one audio book going at the same time, and I just kind of bounce back and forth between all of them.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's difficult to find the time to read. Right now, I have, I counted them yesterday, a total of 30 books in my TBR list. And so I've had to put a hold on bringing books in and accepting books for the show and authors for the show. I'm one of those people that if I'm gonna interview an author, I have to have read their book and hopefully part of their backlist, if not all. So it does get really tricky. Okay, so I've got one more question for you. Is there one book you wish more people would read?
SPEAKER_01:So one of my favorite books, and it kind of blurs the line between uh women's fiction and romance, is Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, um, which was written 26 years ago. And um, Alice is a local Cambridge author. Uh, she's an incredible patron of the store, comes in all of the time. We've gotten to do great events with her. And I just think of her books as something that really, again, sort of bridge that line, that gap between contemporary um literary fiction and romance. You've got a central love story, um, you know, you've got a happy ending, such as it is, but then you also have these multi-layered relationships that are happening that are not romantic. You've got the sisters' relationships and the aunts' relationships, and you've got sort of a societal critique. So anyway, I think of that as sort of like the perfect book that captures all of the good aspects of romance that I love, and also is a little more highbrow than some of the other traditional romance books that we sell. And so for people that are newer to the genre and have sort of, you know, preconceived notions about what romance is, that can be a really great entry point for folks. Plus, I love that she's a local author. Of course, there's the phenomenal movie based on it, there's the sequel that's coming out very soon. So it just like, again, to me, that represents like the universe that is romance.
SPEAKER_00:Practical magic is a great choice. I love that book. A few months ago, I finished reading Love Camera Action by debut novelist Noelle Stark. And she was my guest author last week at one of the Lunch with an Author literary series, the one in Santa Barbara. And I started the luncheon by saying, you know what, I know we do a lot of literary fiction, historical fiction, a little bit of nonfiction, but with the world the state it is right now, I need to know that I get a happy ending. So, yes, Noelle's book was a perfect choice because also we had the film industry in common, and that made the conversation fun.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it's so fun to read something that is reflective of your reality. So, you know, in LA, of course, you're gonna be, you know, thinking about the film industry and about screenwriting, and um, and there's so many great uh books out there about that that kind of either parody or um or reflect, you know, the challenges of modern day life in LA. So you've got, you know, romantic comedy by Curtis Sittenfield, you've got Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter, um, one that I really love is One to Watch, Kate Staman London, which is about reality TV. And so it's it's fun to read about things that, you know, are maybe not as serious. And I think that they I think it's great to have a way to explore that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I agree. Rachel, thank you so much for being a guest on the show. And it's been fun learning more about you and learning about Love Struck books. I wish you all the best.
SPEAKER_01:Well, thank you so much for having me and for taking an interest and you know, for championing reading as you as you do. It's um it's a really hopeful time, I think, to be in this industry. So I'm I'm excited to see what comes next, too.
SPEAKER_00:You've been listening to my conversation with Rachel Canta, owner and founder of Lovestruck Books in Harvard Square in Boston, Massachusetts. To help the show reach more people, please share episodes with friends and family and on social media. And remember to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast. To find out more about the Bookshop Podcast, go to thebookshoppodcast.com. And make sure to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to the show. You can also follow me at Mandy Jackson Beverly, on Instagram and Facebook, and on YouTube at The Bookshop Podcast. If you have a favorite indie bookshop that you'd like to suggest we have on the podcast, I'd love to hear from you via the contact form at thebookshoppodcast.com. The Bookshop Podcast is written and produced by me, Mandy Jackson Beverly. The music provided by Brian Beverly and my personal assistant is Katie Jesinger. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.